A Plea for the Birds 317 



The hollow limbs of old trees make suitable bird 

 houses and a vine planted to climb up around a 

 tree containing a hollow limb will serve as an at- 

 traction to the birds when the tree stands near the 

 house or in a location human beings frequent. 



Martins are very luxurious little birds and like a 

 home with many rooms. The rooms should be six 

 inches square in all three dimensions and the en- 

 trance holes should be about an inch and a half 

 above the floor level. 



The proper size of entrance holes for different birds 

 is as follows: 



Inches in Diameter. 



Flickers 2# 



Carolina Wrens i# 



Chickadees i% 



Bluebirds i% 



Tree Swallows i# 



Woodpeckers 2# 



Wrens i 



Robins, catbirds, and kingbirds build houses in the 

 open and only wide-open houses should be pro- 

 vided as they will not frequent houses which they 

 have to enter by means of a small hole. 



The large variety of gourds make excellent bird 

 houses for the small birds. Any seedsman will 

 recommend the varieties best suited for this 

 purpose. 



